Desolate Era

by RWX

  “Formidable.”

  These Xiantian experts all said in praise.

  “You came quite quickly.” A laugh rang out. A ray of light descended at high speed, then walked over. It was a middle-aged man dressed in beast furs.

  “Truekeep, you came as well.” Ninefire smiled and nodded.

  Ning saw this middle-aged figure come over. This man was named ‘Ji Truekeep’, and he was the number one figure of the Ji clan of the Northern Prefecture, on par with Ning’s father. For him to be able to hurry over from North Prefecture City so quickly…it seemed that Ji Truekeep should be a Zifu Disciple as well.

  “On the surface, my Ji clan only has Ji Ninefire and Granny Shadow, two Zifu Disciples.” Ning said to himself. “However, a clan must have heirs and members amongst the younger generation who have reached the Zifu Disciple level. Now, it seems as though this Ji Truekeep truly is a Zifu Disciple. My father, given the earlier movement abilities he displayed, should also be a Zifu Disciple!”

  Yichuan and Truekeep glanced at each other, nodding.

  Yichuan spoke out, “Patriarch, why have you summoned us?”

  “I imagine that you have discovered as well,” Ninefire said solemnly, “That underground, there is an elemental ore mine. A very rich vein of elemental ore.”

  “Right.” All of the clansmen nodded, their eyes filled with excitement.

  Based on the rules of the Grand Xia Dynasty, the land within ten thousand kilometers of a commandery city belonged to the master of that commandery city! As for any territories under dispute outside of that area, the ownership of those regions depended on who had the strongest fist. This elemental ore mine was extremely close to the City of Ten Thousand Swords. According to the rules set by the Grand Xia Dynasty…without question, it belonged to the Ji clan!

  “Not only is this vein very rich, it is also very large.” Ninefire looked towards the surrounding area. “We will now carry out a detailed analysis and mapping of this elemental ore mine. I will fly towards the southeast. Truekeep, you fly towards the north. Shadow, you fly towards the southwest. As for everyone else, carefully investigate how deep this mine is and the quality of the ore within it. No matter what the results are, within four hours, we’ll regroup here.”

  “Yes.” All of them assented.

  Soon, three rays of light flew towards three different directions, while Ning, Yichuan, and the others burrowed into the ground. Because there was no way to use ground-tunneling arts through elemental ore, the only option they had to was to slowly dig through.

  “Let’s go.” Ning’s body became surrounded by the petals of his Waterflame Lotus, which slowly swiveled about him, easily digging into the ground below.

  This allowed Ning to easily move deeper into the ground, step by step.

  As soon as he went downwards, the earth and mud above him collapsed.

  But Ning just ignored it, continuing to move downwards…and he soon ran into the surface layer of the elemental ore mine. Large amounts of elemental ore were connected to each other like ugly rocks. These were all low-quality elemental stones, and just by looking at them, one wouldn’t be able to see much of a difference between them and ordinary rocks. The only difference was that they emanated quite a bit of an elemental aura.

  Crackle…

  The Waterflame Lotus easily dug downwards, and Ning continued to move down at an astonishing rate.

  “So deep.” Ning could sense that he had already tunneled downwards for a hundred kilometers, but he was still surrounded by a large amount of elemental stones. “The hundred kilometers above me is filled with elemental stones. How deep is this elemental ore mine? And the top of the elemental ore mine was only a few dozen meters from the surface of the ground. How is it that nobody has discovered this mine, in all this time?”

  What Ning didn’t understand was that before Immortal Firedragon had set up a grand formation, who could have possibly found it?

  “Swoosh.” He finally encountered ordinary mud yet again.

  “Three hundred kilometers deep.” Ning was stunned. “Ore mines are generally spread out horizontally. If even the vertical depth is so great, how wide must the mine be?”

  Swoosh!

  Following this, Ning immediately began moving upwards at high speed.

  A long time later…

  He finally emerged once more, appearing on the surface of the ground. He quickly returned to the gathering spot, where Ninefire, Granny Shadow, the old servant, and Truekeep were already present.

  “Ji Ning.” Ninefire looked towards Ning, his eyes lighting up. “You’ve already completed your investigations?”

  “Right.” Ning nodded. He glanced around. Traveling three hundred kilometers into the ground was far more difficult than flying thousands of kilometers in the air. Fortunately, he had been able to rely on his Waterflame Lotus, which borrowed the elemental power of the world, to move so easily. The others had to exhaust their ki in order to slowly dig.

  “How deep is it?” Ninefire and the others all looked towards Ning.

  “Three hundred kilometers.” Ning said.

  The faces of Ninefire, Granny Shadow, and Truekeep changed. They couldn’t be bothered to feel amazed at how Ning had, in a single short hour, made a round trip underground of more than three hundred kilometers. This was because they were already beginning to grow panicked.

  “What’s wrong?” Ning hurriedly asked.

  “This elemental ore mine…” Ninefire said solemnly. “We’ve finished our investigations as well. It has a circumference of at least four thousand kilometers! If it has a depth of three hundred kilometers…then this truly is an enormous large-scale elemental ore mine. To our Ji clan, such an enormous elemental ore mine isn’t a blessing; it is a calamity!”

  A grand calamity!

  Ning instantly understood. A stomach of a certain size could only hold a certain amount of food; if you filled it with too much, you could die from overstuffing.

  “This is a rich vein, and an enormous one.” Ninefire said solemnly. “Once we begin to excavate it, the value of the ore within will definitely be countless times greater than the total assets of the Ji clan. Tell me, how can our Ji clan handle it?”

  This mine…

  This mine had been formed after the peak Primal Daoist, ‘Daoist Firedragon’, had paid an enormous price in order to set up a large formation to collect elemental energy, so as to help himself break through. This mine had been forming for one hundred years. If it was completely mined out, the value of it would be comparable to half the assets of an ordinary Primal Daoist. Because Daoist Firedragon had broken through to the Earth Immortal level, his horizons had been expanded and he no longer cared as much. In addition, mining the elemental ore would simply be too difficult; even a Primal Daoist probably would be too lazy to go through the mining. Only, the likes of Wanxiang Adepts would go wild with excitement for something like this.

  “Then what should we do?” Granny Shadow immediately asked.

  “I’m not afraid of others. I’m only afraid of Snowdragon Mountain!” Ninefire’s face was filled with worry. “The Snowdragon Mountain of the Swallow Mountain area is just a branch clan. Behind it…is the true Snowdragon Mountain Sect! A major sect which has Primal Daoists standing guard over it. And, based on my calculations and the passage of time, the Zifu Disciples of the branch sect of Snowdragon Mountain should have already arrived in the nearby area!”

  * * *

  Book 5, Chapter 15 - Snowdragon Mountain

  Everything happened just as Ji Ninefire predicted. A thousand kilometers away from them…

  There was a screen hovering in mid-air, and atop that screen, there were four figures, staring down below. Suddenly, a ray of light rose into the skies. It was a large, armored, muscular man who was standing atop a greatsword. This muscular man had a hint of a blue light glowing from his skin, and standing there in midair atop that greatsword, he looked like a Fiendgod.

  “My fellow disciples.” The muscular
man had a look of delight on his face. “I’ve finished my investigations. There is a large amount of elemental ore underground, with high quality elemental stones within the deposit. This is a very rich vein of elemental ore.”

  “Oh?” A long-haired man who wore a black robe and had eight bloody trigrams in front and behind him nodded, then laughed. “Junior apprentice-brother Ju San, thank you for your hard work. Who would have expected that an elemental ore mine such as this would have been hidden within the territory of the Ji clan? Right. Junior apprentice-brother Ju San, have you found any traces of mining?”

  The muscular man shook his head.

  The black robed man nodded in satisfaction. “The Ji clan has never sold elemental stones to outsiders. It seems that prior to this, they hadn’t discovered this vein either. My fellow disciples, I’d like to trouble you to go in each direction and investigate carefully exactly how large this vein is, while I will investigate how deep it is. After finishing our investigations, we’ll gather here again.”

  “Yes, elder apprentice-brother Ziqi.” Three men and women, including the muscular man, acknowledged, then each flew away on their own flying-type magic treasures, transforming into rays of light that flew towards four different directions to investigate.

  The black robed man collected his flying screen while rushing towards the ground, smashing through it and burrowing deep.

  …….

  A long time later.

  The three men and one woman who had left earlier had already returned, flying on their magic treasures.

  “Elder apprentice-brother Ziqi still hasn’t finished exploring?” A green-haired man said in surprise. “It seems this mine really is quite deep.”

  “Based on just what we’ve learned, this elemental ore mine has to have a circumference of four thousand kilometers.” A nearby woman whose hair was also emanating a green light said solemnly. “If it’s deep as well…then this mine is going to be an astonishing one.”

  Right after she finished speaking.

  Swoosh!

  From below, a ray of light surged towards the heavens, then came to a halt. It was their black-robed elder apprentice-brother, Ziqi.

  “Elder apprentice-brother Ziqi.” The three men and woman bowed respectfully. Actually, all five of them were Zifu Disciples and of the same generation. Logically speaking, there was no need for them to act like this. But this Ziqi’s power was definitely far above theirs.

  “What an elemental ore mine. It is at least three hundred kilometers deep.” The black-robed man sighed in surprise.

  “Three hundred kilometers?”

  “That deep?”

  “The four of us have found that this mine has a circumference of four thousand kilometers. For it to also have such an astonishing depth…this elemental ore mine is simply too…” The three men and one woman were all in a state of shock. Some mines were fairly shallow, and it made sense for a mine of a circumference of thousands of kilometers to just a few kilometers deep. But this one was three hundred kilometers deep!

  The black-robed man shouted, “This elemental ore mine belongs to Snowdragon Mountain!”

  “Right, it belongs to our Snowdragon Mountain!”

  “We’ve rendered a major merit. The main sect will definitely reward us heavily.”

  “Our chance has come!”

  The five of them were all incomparably excited. They were easily able to tell the general size and scale of this elemental ore mine and knew the value of it. The value was inconceivably high! Most likely, even those Primal Daoists that stood at the very pinnacle of power in Snowdragon Mountain would care deeply about this place.

  “Elder apprentice-brother Ziqi.” The green-haired woman frowned. “This place is very close to the City of Ten Thousand Swords. According to the laws of the Grand Xia Dynasty, this place should be considered as belonging to the Ji clan.”

  “What the hell is the Ji clan?” Ziqi snorted coldly. “Dare they intervene in Snowdragon Mountain’s mine?”

  The nearby green-haired man nodded. “No need to worry about the Ji clan. Snowdragon Mountain is definitely taking over this elemental ore mine! But no matter what, we can’t be too incautious. According to the laws of the Grand Xia Dynasty, this place is the territory of the City of Ten Thousand Swords, which means this mine belongs to the Ji clan. Our Snowdragon Mountain cannot openly violate the laws of the Grand Xia Dynasty!”

  “Right.” Dong Ziqi nodded lightly.

  True.

  Even if they had to skirt the laws, they definitely couldn’t openly challenge the Grand Xia Dynasty! Even the Marquis Palace of Stillwater Commandery, which was almost as ancient as the Grand Xia Dynasty itself, wouldn’t dare to challenge the Grand Xia Dynasty!

  “Right now, I’m only afraid of one thing.” The green-haired man frowned. “If the Ji clan were to send someone to ally with the army of the Grand Xia Dynasty and sign a contract giving this site up to the Grand Xia Dynasty…! If they were to directly sign over this mine to the Grand Xia Dynasty, then there would be nothing that we can do!”

  “Apprentice-brother Hefang speaks reason.” A cold-faced, gray-robed man nodded. “We have to be careful.”

  “We do have to be careful.” The muscular man said frantically, “The Ji clan definitely will realize that they aren’t strong enough to hold this mine. If they give up the mine to the Grand Xia Dynasty, then the Ji clan will at least gain thirty percent of it! This would also result in them having the Grand Xia Dynasty supporting them. We wouldn’t be able to do anything.”

  “Sign an agreement?”

  Dong Ziqi’s eyes were dark and gloomy. “It’s not that easy to do!”

  The other four looked towards Dong Ziqi.

  “The garrison of the Grand Xia Dynasty in the Swallow Mountain region are in Swallow Mountain City.” Dong Ziqi said. “The general of that garrison is a good friend of mine.”

  “But elder apprentice-brother Ziqi, as soon as the Ji clan makes a report and offers to transfer the mine…a mere general wouldn’t dare to suppress the news. If he forcibly suppresses the report of something as major as this, and is later discovered to have done so, then the general will definitely have his soul shattered and dispersed in punishment.” The green-haired man said, concerned.

  Ziqi said, “I know that. He won’t dare to forcibly suppress the news, but at least he’ll be able to delay it!”

  “Oh?” The other four looked at Ziqi as well.

  “You should know.” Dong Ziqi said. “The first part to signing an agreement of relinquishing a mine is the report to the higher ups! Afterwards, the higher ups will immediately send people to investigate the Ji clan’s territory. Only after they have verified that there is indeed such a mine within the Ji clan’s territory will they sign the contract.”

  The other four nodded.

  This was indeed the case.

  Once the report was made, someone would immediately be sent over. The efficiency would be very high.

  “As soon as the report is made, we won’t be able to act as we please.” Ziqi said, “What we can do is to have the garrison general at Swallow Mountain City delay as much as he can…and in addition, it will take time for the person sent by the Grand Xia Dynasty to make his way over. This will be enough time for us to seize the City of Ten Thousand Swords!”

  “Seize the City of Ten Thousand Swords?” The other four nodded gently.

  “As long as we take over the City of Ten Thousand Swords and acquire the official writ, then we will be the masters of the City of Ten Thousand Swords. In accordance with the laws of the Grand Xia Dynasty, the mine will belong to us. Even if the Grand Xia Dynasty sends someone over…because the official writ has a new owner, there will be no way for the Ji clan to sign a contract.” Ziqi said.

  “Fine. We’ll take over the official writ!”

  “Once the official writ is in our hands, we will be the masters of the mine.” Cold light flashed in each of their eyes.

  Ziqi said in a low voice,
“If the Ji clan dares to resist, then annihilate them!”

  “Right.” The other four nodded, not worried about the Ji clan at all.

  “Elder apprentice-brother Ziqi, before this, when we were investigating the size of the mine, we discovered that the Ji clan’s forces were within a thousand kilometers.” The green-haired woman said.

  “Let’s go.” Ziqi said as he let out a cold snort. “Let’s go visit the Ji clan.”

  ………

  Right at this moment, in the air above the elemental ore mine, quite a few Zifu Disciples were conducting investigations, including the Ironwood clan, the Riverbank clan, the Kou clan, the Blackfire Cult…they were all local forces of Swallow Mountain. Only the forces of the Grand Xia Dynasty, stationed in Swallow Mountain City, were not present.

  “What a rich vein.”

  “Such an elemental ore mine…just looking at it is frightening.”

  …………..

  The desolate mountain forests. The Ji clan’s forces were gathered there, deciding what to do.

  “Ji Ninefire!”

  Suddenly, a gloomy voice rang out. This voice caused the faces of quite a few clansmen of the Ji clan to change. Ning’s soul, being so powerful, wasn’t impacted much. He raised his head to look. He saw that high above them in mid-air, an enormous screen was descending towards them at high speed. Standing atop the screen were five men and women, all of them with extraordinary auras.

  The leader of the group was emanating a deathly cold aura. He was dressed in black, and the front and back of his robe were covered with eight bloody trigrams.

  “Dong Ziqi!” Ninefire’s face changed slightly.

  Ning looked carefully at the five on the screen, paying special attention to their leader, Dong Ziqi. “He is Dong Ziqi, of the Swallow Mountain branch of Snowdragon Mountain?”

  Dong Ziqi’s fame was widespread, and he was quietly acknowledged to be the number one expert of the six hegemons of the Swallow Mountain region!